Minestrone - or something akin to it

 

It's butter bean soup with an italian accent - I'm not sure it counts as real minestrone - but it is delicious..

Olive oil

Onion

Garlic

Carrot

Green beans

Mushroom

Roasted red pepper

Tin of butter beans

Yeast flakes

Italian seasoning

Chilli flakes

Tinned tomatoes

Pasta

Black olives

1.  Sweat chopped onion in olive oil.

2.  Add other chopped vegetables - I used carrots, green beans and mushrooms - but whatever you have really.

3.  Add crushed garlic and italian herbs, and a pinch of chilli flakes.  Fry off gently for a couple of minutes.

4.  Add chopped roasted red pepper (in this case from a jar).

5. Pour in a cup of water and simmer gently for a few minutes.

6. Tip in a drained tin of butter beans and a tin of chopped tomatoes, and another cup of water, keep simmering.

7.  Add soup pasta, and sliced black olives.  Season to taste.

8.  Simmer until pasta is cooked.

9.  Serve, scoff, smile.

Cheap, nutritious and tasty - beat that!

Dhal and rice

 

Still skint after Christmas and a never ending January?  I know the feeling.  This, however, is cheap, filling and nutritious.  And has used up stuff from the bottom of the fridge.

Vegetable oil

Onion

Tomatoes

Plum

Red lentils

Turmeric

Chilli flakes

Garam Massala

Water

Spinach

Rice - Brown Basmati today

1.  Sautee chopped onion in oil, gently.

2.  Put rice on to cook - I use a heavy bottomed pan, add cold water to one inch above the surface of the rice, and a pinch of salt.  Bring to the boil, slam the lid on and turn down to the absolute lowest possible.

3.  Add chopped tomato and chopped plum (both optional, use what you have) to the onions.

4.  Add red lentils and water, then add spices, simmer for a while.

5.  Check that its not going too dry, and continue to simmer until lentils are soft.

6.  Add a handful of spinach leaves to wilt through.

7.  Serve, scoff, count spare pennies...

National curry week: Day 3: Egg and pea curry with gf chapati

Dead easy this - but you need the right gf flour - the normal one for pastry etc simply will not work, you need the professional pizza version.

For the chapati:-

Flour
salt
cold water

For the curry:-

onion
garlic
oil
cumin seeds
fennel seeds
turmeric
chilli flakes
tomatoes
boiled eggs
peas

1.  Start the curry by sauteeing onions and garlic in the oil until soft, add spices and continue to cook.
2.  Chop tomatoes and add to the sauce, simmer until cooked, adding water to stop it going dry.
3.  Make the chapati dough - knead together flour, a tsp of salt and water into a soft dough.  Start with a splash of water, and add more as you get the consistency correct (if it gets too wet, add more flour).
4.  Divide the dough into balls, cover and set aside.
5.  Boil eggs - when done drain and peel - you could slit them to get more flavour in - add to the curry sauce and continue cooking for 10 minutes or so.  Then add frozen peas and heat through.
6.  Fry chapatis in a dry pan for a minute or so on each side, until they start to puff up.
7.  Serve, scoff.

Baked halibut - Spanish style

Halibut is an exceptional fish.  Not one we get often, because it is pricey - but Paul had some fantastic looking fresh halibut at a reasonable price - so I didn't resist.  I thought I would give it a bit of a Spanish twist.

Potatoes
White wine
Olive oil
Veg stock
Red onion
Garlic
Courgette
Tomatoes
Red pepper
Parsley
Lemon zest
Black pepper
Dry sherry
Halibut

1.  Peel the potatoes and slice into thick slices.  Place as a layer in an oven dish, with a splash of olive oil, a glass of white wine and about the same of veg stock.  Bake/poach in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until almost done.
2.  Make the sauce - sautee sliced onion and crushed garlic in olive oil, add finely diced courgette and thin strips of red pepper.  After a couple of minutes add chopped tomatoes and a good twist of black pepper.  Simmer, add water/stock if it goes a bit dry, until the veg are soft.
3.  When the potatoes are nearly done, layer the fish on top.  Add 2 tablespoons of dry sherry, a handful of parsley and grated lemon zest to the tomato/pepper mixture, and stir in.
4.  Pour the tomato mixture onto the fish and return to the oven for 20 minutes.
5.  When the fish is cooked, sprinkle on some extra parsley and lemon zest.
6. Serve, scoff.

This was a real treat - I used 2 big halibut steaks, and two of us were eating - there are now 4 portions in the freezer waiting for lunches - I hope it freezes well, because I am already looking forward to pulling it out for work lunches.

Rice, dhal and tomato chokka

Simple, cheap, filling and very tasty.  The tomato chokka is really garlicky and it gives the dinner an enormous boost.

Brown rice
Red lentils
Olive oil
Tomatoes
Chilli flakes
Garlic (a lot)
Fennel seeds
Mustard seeds
Cumin seeds
coriander seeds

This dinner is really a minimum effort, maximum return event.  It takes about 5 minutes to gather things, then you just let it cook away for about 40 minutes, checking the water level on the lentils until you make the tarka just before serving.

1.  Start the rice - I do it in a heavy casserole - 1 inch filled over the level of the rice with water - bring to the boil and shove into a medium oven.
2.  For the tomatoes - put then in an oven dish, stab them a bit so that they can burst, add a good pinch of salted, quite a lot of crushed garlic, a pinch of chilli flakes and a slug of olive oil, bake.  Squish and mix together when they come out of the oven.
3.  Dhal - boil lentils in plenty of water - add more when it looks like they're going dry - once - then carry on simmering until they turn into a nice thick gloop.
4.  Now you don't have t do much, except keep an eye on the lentils and give them a stir now and again until you're just about to serve (about 30 minutes).
5.  Tarka - in a small frying pan heat a spoonful of olive oil, add spices and sizzle - then chuck on top of the dhal.
6.  Serve, scoff.

Cod and smoked salmon fishcakes

 Lots of inspiration for tonight's tea - some home grown triumphs ... broad beans and courgette ... some donated glut yellow tomatoes, an irresistible find in a punnet of heirloom tomatoes, podded peas in the organic box, and some cod fillets also from the organic delivery.  So, adding some smoked salmon from the fridge this was a delicious summery treat.

Potatoes
Butter
Cod fillets
Bay leaf
Onion
Egg
Italian breadcrumbs
Courgette
Olive oil
Broad beans
Peas
Heirloom tomatoes
Spring onion
Basil

1.  Peel and dice potatoes, boil to make the mash.
2.  Mash potatoes with butter and seasoning.  Leave to cool.
3.  Poach the cod in water, with a bay leaf and half an onion.  Don't over cook it, a few minutes simmering, then turn off the heat and let it cook gently for 10 minutes.  Remove from the water and leave to cool.
4.  Dice the courgette, put in a pan with crushed garlic and olive oil.
5.  Pod the beans and peas and put in a steamer ready for steaming.
6.  Slice the tomatoes, sprinkle with salt, finely diced spring onion and shredded basil.  Drizzle on a little good olive oil.
7.  Now assemble to fish cakes, break the smoked salmon into pieces, skin the cod and gently flake into the potato.  Mix together gently, so that the fish stays mostly in individual pieces.
8.  Chill the fish cakes for a few minutes.
9.  Whisk an egg in one bowl, put breadcrumbs in another.  Coat the fishcakes - fist in egg, then in breadcrumbs.  For a lovely crispy finish I did this twice ... egg, breadcrumbs, 5 minutes to dry, egg, breadcrumbs.
10.  Finally - turn the heat on under the courgettes and the peas and beans and fry the fishcakes in olive oil ... about 4 minutes each side - in batches, keeping them warm in the oven as you finish.
11.  Serve, scoff, smile.

Courgette frittata with polenta chips, roast asparagus and a tomato and olive "sauce"

 Another mediterranean feast sourced from Todmorden market.  Absolutely delicious flavours of sun and holidays.

All ingredients can be found within feet of each other, from ....

The Mediterranean Pantry
The Crumbly Cheese
Garry outside, for the veg
Local eggs from various stalls (ours were from our own bantams)

Olive oil
Polenta
Parmesan
Fennel seeds
Chili flakes
Onions
Garlic
Courgette
Eggs
Asparagus
Mixed herbs
Cherry tomatoes
Olives
Oregano
Basil
Mixed salad leaves
Balsamic vinegar

1.  Cut the polenta into chip sizes.  Drizzle some olive oil in on a baking tray, and put it in a hot oven to heat up.
2.  Grate the parmesan and add fennel seeds and chili flakes, mix them together.
3.  Toss the polenta chips in the cheese mixture until every one is coated.
4.  Put the chips onto the hot tray, and drizzle with a little more olive oil.  Bake for about 40 minutes, until golden - turn once in the middle.
5.  While they are baking bung the asparagus in an ove dish, drizzle with oil, season and bung that on the bottom shelf of the oven.
6.  Start the frittata by sauteeing onion and garlic in olive oil.  Add sliced courgette and fry gently.
7.  Gently whisk eggs and add a pinch of mixed herbs.  Pour into the pan with the courgettes.  Transfer the pan to the oven and let bake while everything else finishes.
8.  Fry sliced onion and garlic in another pan, add halved cherry tomatoes, oregano and roughly chopped olives.  This will only take a few minutes.  When it's "done" you can turn off the heat - it's nice warm as well as hot.
9.  45(ish) minutes from starting you should be ready to pull everything out of the oven and serve with salad leaves, lightly dressed with olive oil and balsamic glaze.
10.  Receive rapturous applause.

Lentil spaghetti ... another version

There are many versions of lentil spaghetti;  this one is made with semi-dried tomatoes which gives it a depth of flavour without adding tomato puree.  It is also made with "Tuscan Seasoning" from my deli stall on Todmorden market - which adds a bit of chilli kick.

Everything for this recipe can be sourced, if you are local, from Todmorden market - you would have to cross the road to the off licence to pick up a bottle of red - but otherwise all available from the market - the vegetable stall outside, the Crumbly Cheese and The Mediterranean Pantry inside.  (But you will probably have some stuff in your cupboards anyway).

Olive oil
Onion
Celery
Carrot
Tuscan seasoning
Mushrooms
Red lentils
Red wine
Sun-dried/semi-dried tomatoes
Fresh tomatoes
Water
Grainy mustard
Black pepper

Spaghetti (Gluten free here, but does not have to be)

Parmesan

1.  Sweat chopped onion, celery and carrot in olive oil.
2.  Add a tsp or so of Tuscan seasoning (herbs, garlic and chilli)
3.  Stir around, then add chopped mushrooms.
4.  Stir around again, then add a handful of red lentils.
5.  Chuck in a glass of red wine, and a glass of water - simmer.
6.  Whizz the semi-dried and fresh tomatoes with a stick blender (or equivalent)
7.  After the lentils have been in for 10 minutes add tomatoes.  Add water/stock when the mix starts to look a bit dry ... altogether simmer for about 40 minutes.
8.  Taste and stir in mustard and ground black pepper to taste.
9.  Cook the spaghetti according to packet instructions - ours was GF - and took 7 minutes boiling (packet said 8 ... so, as usual, checked before to make sure it was al dente).
10.  Serve, with or without parmesan shavings. (vegan if you don't!)

YUM!

Baked hake with potato and fennel gratin

Well, I call it gratin but there is no cheese involved, so really it's just a bake.

This is a gorgeous meal, with every single item available from Todmorden market - every single one!

So, from The Mediterranean Pantry ...

olive oil
garlic
salt and pepper

from Paul the fish

Hake

from Gary the veg

Potatoes
Onions
Fennel
baby plum tomatoes

(If you haven't got roasting dishes or a sharp knife, they are also available from the iron mongers!)

1.  Wash and thinly slice potatoes.
2.  Thinly slice peeled onion and fennel.
3.  Splosh a little olive oil in 2 roasting dishes.
4.  Squish some garlic, mix into a few tablespoons of olive oil.
5.  Arrange the sliced potato, fennel and onion in one of the dishes - season each layer, and splash in a little of the garlic oil.
6.  Stick potatoes in microwave for 10 minutes, then transfer to a medium hot oven for 40 minutes.
7.  Meanwhile, in the other roasting dish, roast halved tomatoes.
8.  After 20 minutes (ie. 20 minutes to go) add the fish to the tomatoes.
9.  Serve, scoff, receive adoring praise.

Smoked trout salad

The summer seems to have deserted the north - but the lettuces in the trug have still clung on, so despite thunder and lightening, it was time to have sunshine in the kitchen.

New potatoes
Hot smoked trout

Little gem lettuce
Parsley
Sorrel
Olive oil
Lemon juice

Tomatoes
Spring onions
Radishes
Salt
Olive oil
Basil

Carrots
Sesame seeds

So 4 salads ...

1.  start by washing and boiling new potatoes.
2.  Wash and spin lettuce leaves, add fresh parsley leaves and sorrel leaves (not chopped up as a garnish, but as salad leaves).
3.  Drizzle on olive oil and squeeze on the juice of 1/2 a lemon.  Toss gently as you serve.
4.  Chop the tomatoes, radishes and spring onions, drizzle with a little olive oil, tear in a few basil leaves and grind on rock salt.
5.  Peel and grate carrots, mix in a spoonful of sesame seeds,
6.  Flake smoked trout into the potatoes,
7.  Scoff

(Turn the heating up and pretend that summer is here)

Todmorden tapas

Saw some nice looking Manchego in our local well known budget supermarket - it became the inspiration for this.

Potatas bravas
Garlic mushrooms
Garlic proawns and peas
Green salad
(Some pepper and cheese things from a jar)



1.  Peel and chop potatoes into chunks, boil.
2.  Peel and chop 2 red onions.  Sautee in 2 pans, one for the potatoes, one for the mushrooms.
3.  Add butter to the mushroom pan, garlic and chopped mushrooms, cook down.
4.  Add tomatoes, and a pinch of chili flakes to the onions for the potatoes, cook down.
5.  In a third pan, slosh olive oil, and handful of frozen prawns and frozen peas, crushed garlic and chili flakes, with a splosh of white wine.  Leave to sit and cook off hard when everything else is just about done.
6. Add cooked drained potatoes to onions and tomatoes.
7.  Dress green salad leaves with olive oil and lemon juice.

Scoff.

Chicory, celery and kholrabi pasta bake

Interesting selection of veg in the veg box this week - but they don't lend themselves immediately to hearty winter warmers.  I could've made several delicious salads ... but, what with snow and everything ... just didn't fancy that.  So, a bit of a think, a few staples and condiments from the cupboard - and dah-dah

It would have been lasagne, but I had no gluten free lasagna, so I used what I had which was gf fusilli - mixed it with the veg sauce - topped with tomatoes and grated cheese.

Olive oil
Onion, diced
Celery, about a cupful, diced
Kholrabi,  (half) peeled and diced
Mushrooms, diced
Chicory (endive), chopped
Garlic
Oregano
Mustard
stock
soya milk

Pasta shapes (GF fusilli today... but you knwo, whatever... )

Tomatoes, sliced

Cheddar, grated

1.  Gently sautee diced onion and celery in olive oil.
2.  When a bit soft add kholrabi and mushrooms, keep softening for a bit, add garlic and oregano.
3.  Cook pasta in boiling water.
4.  When veg are softenning a bit, add some stock (and/or white wine) and a teaspoon of mustard, simmer for a bit.
5.  Add chopped chicory, simmer.  I let the sauce down with a little soya milk because it was looking a bit dry, and I thought it would add a little "creaminess" - it worked.
6.  When the pasta is nearly done, drain it and mix it with the veg mix and put into an oven dish.
7.  Top the pasta mix with sliced tomatoes, and a drizzle of olive oil.  Bung in the oven at 180 C.
8.  Grate cheese and sprinkle on top of bake after 10 minutes.  Bake for a further 20 minutes until bubbling and lovely.

Serve, scoff.

Red pepper risotto

Veg box victory once again.  We bought Friday's fish, some extra potatoes and onions, and had one dinner out, but otherwise ... all organic veg and cupboard dinners ... hurrah.  Tomorrow's veg box arrives with special offer fish, so I am looking forward to those opportunities too.

Anyway, tonight - red pepper risottto ..

Olive oil
1 leek, chopped
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
Celery, chopped
Garlic, crushed
Risotto rice
White wine
Stock
5 tomatoes, grated (this removes the skins really easily and lets the pulp be integrated into the sauce)
Salt and pepper

1.  Sautee chopped, washed leek in olive oil.  (I had my oil a little too hot, which resulted in the few caremalised specs of black, which actually added to the taste, in my humble opinion.)
2.  Chuck in diced red pepper and celery, soften a little.  Add crushed garlic. stir in.
3.  Add a small handful of risotto rice, turn over so every grain is coated with a film of oil and veg juices.
4.  Add a splosh of dry white wine and stir in.
5.  Add stock a ladle at a time, simmer, stir.
6.  After about 10 minutes, add grated tomatoes and seasoning.
7.  Stir and taste, adding stock when it goes a bit dry.
8.  When rice is just  nearly ready, turn off the heat and let the last of the liquid be sucked up into the rice.

Serve the lovely, smooth, tasty mixture with parmesan grated on top. (Vegan if you don't sprinkle parmesan on top).

Slashed root vegetables, butter beans and cabbage with roast tomatoes

Got home late, and wanted speedy dinner, nut veg in veg box didn't really lend themselves to that kind of concept ... as my immediate idea was spiced roast root vegetables, and that would have been over a hour.  I think I did this in 25 minutes, but frankly, I didn't time it.

1. Bung cherry tomatoes in a roasting tin, drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt,  whack up the oven to its highest setting.
2.  Peel and chop root vegetables (turnip, kohlrabi and carrots), boil.
3.  Chop and sautee onion and celery in olive oil, add rosemary and white wine, sautee until quite soft.
4.  Chop cabbage, steam over root veg.
5.  Add butter beans to onions, heat through.
6.  When root veg are soft, add olive oil spread and lots, no a bit more, lots of freshly ground black pepper.  Slice through quickly and thoroughly with a sharp knife (hence slashed, not mashed).  (Use butter here if you are not lactose intolerant/vegan).
7.  Mix cabbage with butter beans.
8.  Serve, scoff.

Delicious. Nutritious, Seasonal - what more do you want?

Leek and potato gratin

We arrived at our home from home for a few days - not late, but quite tired - and there was an Aga... yay!  There was also quite a lot of house to explore, and a fire to light and curl up in front of ... so, a nice comforting bowl of yumminess...

Olive oil
2 big leeks
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
Fennel seeds
Green beans
Potatoes
Dry white wine
Cheese, grated
Sliced tomatoes
Soya milk
Corn flour
Seasoning

1.  Chop and wash the leeks, sautee in olive oil, add fennel seeds and crushed garlic.
2.  Chop and boil the potatoes, steam chopped green beans on top of potatoes.
3.  When leeks are nearly soft add dry white wine, simmer for a few minutes.
4.  Drain potatoes.
5.  Make a sauce of leeks by adding soya milk, a fork full of cornflour slaked in water, and grated cheese.  Simmer for a few minutes, stirring while it thickens.
6.  Mix potatoes and leek sauce mixture in ovenproof dish.
7.  Top with sliced tomatoes, and grated cheese.
8.  Bake in lower part of hot Aga oven for 30 minutes.

Explore holiday home....

Scoff.  Have seconds.  And another glass of wine.  And ...... relax!

Autumnal "spanish" omelette, with roasted vine tomatoes

Start with the tomatoes ... put them in the oven in an oven dish with a splash of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.

Omelette

1 leek, chopped and washed
Mushrooms, chopped
8 medium potatoes
cavolo nero, shredded
broccoli, florets separated and stalk peeled and chopped
8-10 eggs, whisked

1.  Soften leek in olive oil, then add mushroom pieces, fry gently in a big frying pan, which you can put in the oven.
2.  At the same time boil chopped potatoes, and steam cavolo nero and broccoli.
3.  When the potatoes are done, and the greens are soft - add them all to the frying pan, and mix together.
4.  Add the eggs, shake the pan to even out and cook in a medium oven for about 20-30 minutes.

This was a fabulous use of the end of the veg box.  Filling, delicious and quite easy. "First class is too trite" was my provided quote.

Spinach omelette (with roast tomatoes and potatoes)

The main part of this dinner took about 10 minutes - it was the mini roasties and roast tomatoes which took the other hour.  So, I put this firmly in fast food - buy chips/ bake oven chips / .... heat tinned tomatoes/ fry fresh tomatoes... to get a quicker version of basically the same thing.

The omelette is...

olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
garlic, crushed
spinach leaves, shredded
eggs (4), whipped

so ... boil - roast bits of potatoes (or buy chips from the chippy ... yum) .. roast tomatoes ... or use conveniently packaged tomato ketchup .. to serve along side the omelette

The omelette

1. sweat down chopped onion in olive oil - for about 5 minutes
2.  add crushed garlic and shredded spinach, keep moving around the pan until spinach has wilted.
3.  Beat eggs, add to hot pan.
4.  Swirl egg mixture in pan, pull cooked edges in and swirl uncooked egg into the spaces - stick in the oven for a couple of minutes if the top still looks uncooked ..

Serve - with salty cheese (feta and chvre - cos we had them) and other stuff.

My camera is doing odd things, but my taste buds are not - this was really tasty.

Macaroni vegetable cheese

I'm not supposed to have too much lactose - but I love cheese.  So, the compromise on this was to make the cheese sauce with strong cheddar and soya milk.

Also, finishing off the end of the veg box meant not cauliflower cheese, but everything else in the fridge cheese.

Steam veg (Leeks, runner beans, carrots, cabbage).  Boil pasta shapes (gluten free).  Make cheese sauce by boiling soya milk, adding slaked cornflower, mustard and cheese.  Mix together with halved cherry tomatoes, sprinkle more cheese on top and bake at a high heat to brown the top.

Delish.  And an end of the veg box victory.  Enough left for tomorrow's lunches, and dinner I think.

Rice & lentils, roast tomatoes and steamed vegetables

There is a "rule" in our house ... use up last week's veg box first - perhaps adding special stuff from the new box, particularly if it's a thing which will go off quickly.  Usually this requires self-control as all the lovely fresh veg comes in ... but tonight it was a bit of a relief, because the mix of new veg is quite a challenge - it's going to be an inventive week.  Something I can tackle tomorrow with a bit of thinking time - but not when I got in at nearly 7pm tonight.

So, from the old veg box - cherry tomatoes, cabbage, lemon.

From the new veg box carrots and runner beans.

From the larder basmati rice, puy lentils, dried fried onions, olive oil, garlic.

From the fridge natural yogurt.

1.  Cook rice & boil lentils.
2.  Roast tomatoes with olive oil and salt.
3.  When the rice, lentils and tomatoes are approaching ready (after about 30 minutes) steam the chopped veg.
4.  Stir crushed garlic, lemon juice and seasonning into yogurt.
5.  When cooked mix together rice, lentils and onions.

Serve all the elements together, and let people mix what they wish to on their plates.  Surprisingly a really well balanced bunch of flavours and textures.  One word of warning - when you squish the tomatoes to get the juice into the ricey mixture the juice is i) very very hot and ii) squirts everywhere.

Now, what do I do with... pak choi, radishes, leeks, carrots, beetroot, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, cucumber, green beans, french beans, onions and potatoes?  Lots of lovely ingredients, but how to make them work together?  (fortunately still some tomatoes and cabbage left to factor in)

Last of the veg box dinner

Left from the veg box - new potatoes, vine tomatoes, an onion, a few mushrooms and a cabbage - but it was also for a birthday tea, so I wanted to try to make it a bit more special.

Boil new potatoes
Crush in hot olive oil
Chuck in chopped olives and roast for 40 minutes.

Bake tomatoes in olive oil and a sprinkle of salt for 40 minutes

Chop the onion

Fry half with chopped mushrooms and garlic, in olive oil.  Add a splash of white wine and a drained tin of butter beans.

Fry the other half until a bit soft, add cumin seeds, crushed garlic and shredded cabbage.  Toss about a bit.

Scoff - celebrate birthday with nice wine.